Film rack



March 25, 1952 C, 5, HURLBUT, JR 2,590,705

FILM RACK Filed Jan. 25. 1949,

Patented Mar. 25, 1952 FILM RACK Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., Belmont, Mass., as-

Thermionic Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Massachusignor to Cambridge setts Application January 25, 1949, Serial No. 72,705

2 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for handling photographic nlm and more particularly to a rack for supporting strips of nlm during and after the various procedures of a photographic process.

Objects of this invention are to lprovide a rack which will receive one or more strips of photographic nlm, which will accommodate strips oi varying lengths and width, which prevents the film strips from curling, which prevents adjacent film strips from contacting one another, which is simple to use, which is economical in construction, and which is especially compact, occupying a minimum of space while permitting inspection of the lms.

In a broad aspect the invention contemplates a supporting frame having one or more :pairs of parallel guides and fastening means to secure one end of each strip of lm to the frame. The opposite end of each nlm strip is gripped by a respective clamp of a stretching means which is slidably attached to a correlated pair of guides. Means are provided for moving the stretching means along the correlated guides whereby the nlm is extended so that the film is prevented from curling while drying.

In dierent aspects the means Jfor moving the stretching means along the guides may be a spring disposed between the frame and the stretching means, a weight suspended from the stretching means or the inherent mass of the stretching means itself. y

In a speoiiio aspect the invention contemplates a rack comprising a supporting frame having two upright members, the respective upper ends of which are joined'by a crosspiece. A similar crosspiece extends between the lower ends of the respective members. A plurality of parallel guides are interposed between the crosspieces. The upper crosspiece is provided with a plurality of stationary clamps for securing the respective film strips. The other end of each lm strip is gripped by a movable clip which is slidably attached to two adjacent guides. rThe clip is moved along the guides by its own mass or by an external weight or spring.

A particularly important feature of the invention is the arrangement of the alternate guides in parallel planes so that the clips attached to adjacent guides are arranged at an angle with respect to the plane of the frame. This arrangement allows the successive film strips to be staggered thus increasing the number of strips accommodated by a given size frame, while not impeding inspection of each individual strip.

These and other objects, aspects and ,features will be apparent from the following description of an illustrative specic embodiment of the invention referring to drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation view of one embodi ment oi the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view or second embodiment of the invention;

Fig. el is a cross-sectional View on line f'iof Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on line 5 5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged isometric view ci the movable clip.

The photographic film drying rack It (Fig. 1) chosen for the purpose of illustration, comp-rises a supporting fra-me Il having two upright members I2. The respective upper ends of the upright members i2 are welded or otherwise joined to a crosspiece i3 preferably having a channel shaped cross-section. A similar crosspiece I4 'connects the lower ends of the upright members l2.

A plurality of wires or rods such as the guides i6 are interposed between the crosspieces I3 and i4, alternate guides being located in parallel vertical planes. One end, preferably the bottom ci each guide I6, is riveted or peened over, the other end of the rod being threaded to engage a nut l5 so that the tension of the guide can be regulated by adjustment of the nut. Each strip of nlm F to be treated is supported at one oy fastening means such as the stationary clips il (Fig. 5)'. The clips l' are secured to the web oi the top cross-piece i3 by means ci the rivets it which project through apertures located n the web mid way between the guides it of each staggered pair.

The clip Il comprises two jaws El and 22 having mating serrated ends for gripping the film strip F therebetween. The opposite end 2@ of the jaw 2l is bent perpendicularly to the remainder oi the jaw to provide a lip having an apei-,

ture through which projects the rivet i8 securing the clip l1 as mentioned above. interposed intermediate the ends of the jaw 2 i are two tabs 23 bent normally to the opposite sides of the jaw and each having an aperture therein through which projects a pin 2s. The pin 24 also engages apertures in similar tabs 2S of the jaw 22. The opposite end 21 of the jaw 22 is also extended to provide a lever for opening the jaws 2l and 22 against the closing force of a spring 28 which is disposed circuinjacent the pin 24 with its ends bearing against the extended jaw ends 20 and 21, respectively.

The opposite end of each film strip F is gripped by a clamp 3l of stretching means such as the clip I9 having a runner 32, the hooked ends of which are slidably attached to two adjacent guides i6. rEhe clamp 3l (Fig. 6) comprises two jaws 33 and 34 each having a serrated end which mates with the serrated end of the other jaw. Two tabs 35 having respective apertures therein for engaging a pin 3l are bent normally to the opposite sides of the jaw 34. The jaw 33 has two similarly disposed apertured tabs 38. The serrated edges of the jaws 33 and 34 'areorced into engagement by a spring 39 which is positioned circumjacent the pin 37 with the ends thereof bearing against the inner surfaces of the ends 4I and d2 of the jaws 33 and 94, respectively. The runner 32 is riveted or otherwise fastened to the outer surfaceof the jaw 33. l

In order" to attach a lm strip F to the rack, one end thereof is secured in one of the clamps I1, the jaws 2l and 22 thereof being separated so that the lm strip can be inserted by depressing the ends and 21 with the forenger and thumb. The jaws 33 and 34 of the correlated clamp 3l are opened by depressing the ends 4I and 42 in a similar manner and the runner 32 moved along the guides I6 until the jaws engage the opposite end of the film strip F. The clip i9 is then released and the weight thereof stretches the lm strip F so that it does not curl. The remaining film strips F are attached in a, similar manner. The guides I6 prevent adjacent film strips F from coming into contact with one another during treatment and when the drying air is circulated either mechanically or naturally to decrease the drying time. If the weight of the clip i9 is not sufficient to prevent the lm strips from curling, the eifective mass thereof can be increased by hanging a Weight 44 in an aperture 43 provided in the end 42 of the jaw 34 for such purpose. The staggered or louvre-like arrangement of the films permits easy inspection while considerably reducing the area required by a rack designed for holding a given amount of film.

Another embodiment of the rack i0n is shown in Fig. 3 wherein the force for extending the lrn strip F is supplied by means of o, spring 45 interposed between the clip aperture 43 and the bottom crosspiece I4. The guides i9 have also been rearranged so that they all lie in one vertical plane as is shown in Fig; 4. The remaining elements bear similar indicia to the corresponding elements of the rack I 9 which has been described in detail heretofore.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. A rack for supporting a plurality of strips oi photographic lm comprising a supporting frame, a plurality of parallel guides the ends of which are attached respectively to opposed sides of the frame, alternate guides being located in two parallel planes, fastening means for securing the respective ends of the film strips to said frame, a plurality of stretching means each attached to a guide in one vertical plane and an adjacent guide in the parallel plane so as to be freely slidable thereupon and having a clamp to grip the opposite ends of the respective said lm strips, and means for moving the stretching means along said guides whereby the film strips are prevented from curling.

2. A rack for supporting a plurality of photographic lm strips comprising a supporting frame having two upright members and two crosspieces, one piece extending between the upper ends of the respective members and the other piece between the lower ends of the members, a plurality of parallel guides the ends of which are attached respectively to said crosspieces, alternate guides being located in two parallel planes, a plurality of stationary clamps for securing the respective film strips to the crosspiece extending between the upper ends of the members, a plurality or" movable clamps each attached to a respective guide in one vertical plane and an adjacent correlated guide in the parallel plane so as to be freely slidable thereupon and arranged to grip the opposite ends of said respective lm strips, and a plurality of weights attached to the respective movable clamps for sliding the movable clamps along said guides whereby the lm is prevented from curling.

CORNEL-US S. HURLBUT,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,051,518 Rorabeck Jan. 28, 1913 1,323,369 McKelvey et al Dec. 2, 1919 1,391,982 Schreiber Sept. 27, 1921 1,527,843 Coleman Feb. 24, 1925 2,078,078 Hood .1 Apr. 20, 1937 2,410,131 Sardeson et al Oct. 29, 1946 2,497,429 Armstrong et al Feb. 14, 1950 

